Arizona State Sun Devils

ASU freshman Jacobsen off to solid start

Creighton's Doug McDermott (3) makes a one-handed shot over Arizona State's Eric Jacobsen (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational tournament on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Arizona State freshman Eric Jacobsen has gotten off to a pretty solid start in his first season in Tempe.

A 6-foot-10 forward, Jacobsen is averaging 4.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12 minutes of action per game.

The Hamilton High School product grabbed nine rebounds against Sacramento State and scored 16 points against Hartford a few days later, showing glimpses of the potential that has head coach Herb Sendek excited for the player's future even while his present has been pretty good.

"Usually you're just not as far along as somebody who's 21 or 22 years old, especially if you're a frontcourt player," Sendek told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo Tuesday. "There's still a pretty good learning curve in terms of the level of detail that now goes into each and every game."

Sendek likened Jacobsen to former ASU star Jeff Pendergraph, who entered college quite a bit smaller than he needed to be to compete at a high level.

"Eric comes in and he already has a solid base," Sendek said. "That's one real fundamental difference, is just being physically ready to play, which he is."